AT World of Warcraft Thread (Cataclysm, Where do you play, General BS and all that)

[randomrogue]

There was a brief period last expansion where something went wrong and people with authenticators were getting hacked. I don't remember the details but we had one person affected by it.

My guild requires all raiders to have an authenticator. The GM can require it as a condition of being promoted.

 

[s1njin]

Just started a new toon. They really made the newbie areas super easy ... I guess this is what you guys mean when you say its easier to level now. I thought maybe the exp required was lowered, but it actually is just flat out EASIER.

And that kinda bums me out to be honest.

 

[randomrogue]

It should be way more fun if you give it a shot. It will of course depend on class but do you really want to go back to say "Smite, Smite, Smite, Smite" for 40 levels with no ground mount?

 

[polarmystery]

It should be way more fun if you give it a shot. It will of course depend on class but do you really want to go back to say "Smite, Smite, Smite, Smite" for 40 levels with no ground mount?

LOL my first character ever was a priest and I remember having to do that. I didn't even make it to level 40 before I quit for a year. It was fun when it was new though.

 

[s1njin]

It should be way more fun if you give it a shot. It will of course depend on class but do you really want to go back to say "Smite, Smite, Smite, Smite" for 40 levels with no ground mount?

Blood Elf Lock. I'm sure it will get more challenging again as I go, just a inital observation - I remember having to worry a lot more early on.

 

[slag]

As it stands now, the game plays itself up to levle 80. You get a quest, the map shows you exactly where to go and what to do. Even "elite" mobs are no challenge for a toon 2-3 levels below what they are.

It's become a big joke so far. My goblin shammy is level 51 and I play an hour every other day or so. It's just so easy to level. Currently it takes me about 45 minutes to an hour to go level to level.

 

[Aikouka]

Leveling won't be challenging at all, but the thing is... the game isn't really about the leveling at all. That's why we have things like Bind on Account items that grant you a ton of experience. Blizzard realizes that after the first time, it's usually not that special anymore. The only differences you usually get is when you play melee vs ranged (or maybe even healer or tank if you want to level like that).

Another thing I found interesting... it seems Blizzard is very adamant about not changing their pricing for things like faction changes or server transfers. The thing is... reading the stuff above about BoA items and all this other stuff that promotes "Alt-ism", Blizzard essentially pushes us to try and make alts. You eventually get people like me who have 13 80+ characters (6 at 85 I think... I'm bored with leveling though). So when you want to switch... do you give up your other characters? If I wanted to be Horde on another server, it'd cost me $55 per character.

I actually don't mind paying $55 for it, but what I would like is if Blizzard allowed me to tack on more characters at a highly reduced amount. Say maybe $5 more per character. That way, if I wanted to keep my alts, I could do so. I can afford the exorbitant price to do it now, but if I ask myself, "Is it worth over $600 to transfer all of your characters or even $300 to transfer the more important ones?"

Only a lunatic would answer yes.

 

[s1njin]

I wonder why these things have gotten this way? I remember fondly walking around 'Orc Hill' in EQ w/ that sense of intense fear/anxiety/rush while pulling very carefully and making every move count as much as I could. The joy that came from getting deeper in a area, the fear of if I should even be there.

I can't find that magic anymore. All these MMORPGs seem to cater to the 'I want it now' generation. I'd rather be level 14 and earn it than a level 50 that got there on cruise control. I'd rather feel that sense of pride and accomplishment than be over-inundated w/ new abilities and options b/c everything was given to me so fast. I have a real issue w/ Rift for the same exact reason but magnified b/c of the multiple soul arrangement.

I miss having dying actually mean something. I am so careless with my Rift toon because there is nothing there stopping me from doing so. I will literally take a short cut buy jumping off a mountain and hugging it all the way down because it will save me 5 minutes and if I die, well, I don't really care it just cost me some gold. Big whoop.

Does EQ2 have any of the elements I'm after? Who the heck knows.

On a positive note, I do love the WoW soundtrack over anything else that's out there. And it is comforting to be back in Azeroth as it makes me reflect on my time spent there/here many years ago. However, going at it w/ reckless abandon really is putting a buzz kill on my hooch !

 

[lupi]

lol, haven't stopped at the actual forums in a while but judging from the snippets with blue comments at mmo-c, it seems the natives are a bit restless on the new for money changes.

 

[Anubis]

lol what did they add this time

 

[Aikouka]

lol what did they add this time

You can do random dungeons with people on any realm, but the person setting up the group must have the premium service enabled. It hasn't been added yet though. I assume it might be tacked onto the Remote AH/Chat fee, which wouldn't be a terrible deal.

 

[Anubis]

that sounds like a very stupid idea

 

[Aikouka]

that sounds like a very stupid idea

It has merit, and it really depends on what they're charging. The mobile chat/AH is actually not too bad since it has some database/server-side work as well as mobile apps for Android and iOS. So the ... what is it... $3.99 a month isn't too bad. But will they bundle that into the same price (remote chat didn't raise the price)?

In some ways, it seems like this is a "yeah, if you don't like the price of our server/faction transfers and want to play with friends, you can pay this lower price!"

 

[Macamus Prime]

The game was never about leveling.

You spend most of your skill and efforts on endgame. Some enjoy stopping and smelling the roses. But, most people just want to get to end content and conquer it.

 

[s1njin]

The game was never about leveling.

You spend most of your skill and efforts on endgame. Some enjoy stopping and smelling the roses. But, most people just want to get to end content and conquer it.

Hrm ... I suspect I'm not going to get what I'm looking for than. At least not in this particular MMORPG.

 

[polarmystery]

The game was never about leveling.

You spend most of your skill and efforts on endgame. Some enjoy stopping and smelling the roses. But, most people just want to get to end content and conquer it.

If they game wasn't about leveling, then why did they completely revamp the leveling experience from 1-60? While granted there are many who enjoy the end-game content (and some can argue that WoW doesn't start until you reach max level), I'm inclined to disagree.

As far as BoA items and leveling, I think that they are just meant to give to players who mainly play at max level to get another character at max level as quick as possible. It's not the leveling isn't special, I think it's that they are catering to the play style of people who spend enough time getting heirloom items (who are also the same people that play at max level the most).

 

[Pens1566]

If they game wasn't about leveling, then why did they completely revamp the leveling experience from 1-60? While granted there are many who enjoy the end-game content (and some can argue that WoW doesn't start until you reach max level), I'm inclined to disagree.

As far as BoA items and leveling, I think that they are just meant to give to players who mainly play at max level to get another character at max level as quick as possible. It's not the leveling isn't special, I think it's that they are catering to the play style of people who spend enough time getting heirloom items (who are also the same people that play at max level the most).

Your first question is kind of answered by your second paragraph. IOW, they re-worked the old areas so people who had already been through them several times before would get a different/new experience when lvling even more alts.

 

[Scotteq]

Your first question is kind of answered by your second paragraph. IOW, they re-worked the old areas so people who had already been through them several times before would get a different/new experience when lvling even more alts.

That, and because the original game used a lot of optical illusions to give the impression of 3 dimensionality. There were areas which simply not coded into the game because players were never intended to be able to view them. Obviously, that would have been a big problem once players returned to the original game areas on their flying mounts: "Wow - the back of that mountain doesn't exist, and that ridgeline over there is just a wallpaper..."

Therefore - if they were to be reused - all of the original game areas needed to be redone so the world appeared whole. While Blizzard were at it, they also rebalanced quests and the path through the game in light of the (several times over) changed talents/abilities, and also to better support the new lore and drive the updated storyline.

 

[randomrogue]

They once said they couldn't put flying mounts into the old world for that exact reason - the art there didn't support them.

I must admit though that I agree that we've lost a lot of the "feeling" you had back in vanilla by just being able to fly over everything and level at such a pace. You finish zones before you've fully explored them now and you don't get immersed at all. There's a huge difference between walking through a zone for 20 minutes and riding through it in 2 or flying completely above it. By the time you get to Hellfire you are flying and you never do anything on the ground again.

 

[Aikouka]

I must admit though that I agree that we've lost a lot of the "feeling" you had back in vanilla by just being able to fly over everything and level at such a pace. You finish zones before you've fully explored them now and you don't get immersed at all. There's a huge difference between walking through a zone for 20 minutes and riding through it in 2 or flying completely above it. By the time you get to Hellfire you are flying and you never do anything on the ground again.

The problem here is that the nature of the game has changed a lot since the initial release compared to the release of an expansion. When the initial game released, people were mostly just about exploring and leveling and such... they weren't thinking about how fast they could go in and kill Ragnaros. Now when you get a new expansion, there's practically a race to see who can get to the "finish line" first.

In a way, you didn't lose the feeling... it's more like the feeling changed. Albeit, the new factor is one thing that always makes a MMO (or really... any game) fun.

 

[Macamus Prime]

If they game wasn't about leveling, then why did they completely revamp the leveling experience from 1-60? While granted there are many who enjoy the end-game content (and some can argue that WoW doesn't start until you reach max level), I'm inclined to disagree.

You have the option to speed level; by wearing heirlooms. And, the content has been dumbed down.

So, you aren't forced to experience the full scope and spectrum of the revamped content. If you decide to experience end game, you are forced to follow a path (gear progression, learning the fights, playing your class a certain way).

The revamp is just visual. None of the mechanics really changed. You don't have to do anything with the bosses/enemies, other than DPS them to hell; damage is king in 1 to 60.

Endgame has a huge amount of effort and thought placed into it. You can't just tank & spank anymore.

The revamp was a coat of paint, nothing more. The latest endgame requires you think, plan and coordinate properly in order to progress.

 

[Aikouka]

Endgame has a huge amount of effort and thought placed into it. You can't just tank & spank anymore.

The revamp was a coat of paint, nothing more. The latest endgame requires you think, plan and coordinate properly in order to progress.

I think the biggest difference between end-game now and before is that even normal modes are very unforgiving in regard to mistakes.

I'm not sure if I'd call the 1-60 rework as simply a coat of paint. While it doesn't change much of "the real game" (i.e. end-game raiding), they changed an extensive amount of the zones and did a much better job of creating a good flow in regard to questing. I think that they did waste some space though... like the Worgen town in Blasted Lands... it has maybe 6 quests :\.

 

[maniacalpha1-1]

Does WoW ever open brand new servers?

 

[Scotteq]

Does WoW ever open brand new servers?

All the time.

 

[Lightflash]

And yet they still had so low pop. of servers that should just be killed off and moved to one higher pop. server.

Glad I quit last year. I still read up on the game thinking that it would be fun, but after witnessing the first few heroic BoT/Nef I just got bored with the game for good. Blizzard re-releasing old content as new (ZG/ZA/Rag/Nef), even if the encounters are new in some way just rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe it was the fact of being in TG/multiple gladiator that burnt me out, but just looking at every PTR change makes me laugh at how this game has went from hardcore raiding to more casual. I know why they did it and it is nice for a greater number, but I would love to see a game come out that is actually difficult. Rift was neat for all of a week, and then seemed to be just like every other game with a soul system that was overly bloated.